FTC Declares Shenanigans On All Kinds Of Stuff!

OK. Before we begin, let me make the following disclaimer: I AM NOT A LAWYER, NONE OF THIS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE.

(Duh!)

Onward…

Most people think the new FTC guidelines are aimed at stopping those fake blog sites.

You know the ones, right? Where the “blogger” is a totally non existent person and it’s just some made up story to promote a CPA offer?

I’m sure you’ve seen them.

Here’s a list of fake weight loss blogs

http://www.weightlossweapons.com/blog/weight-loss-scam-sites/

…And here’s a list of fake “Make Money” blogs:

http://workathometruth.com/classifieds/m-fake-mon/

And while I’m sure these fake blogs played a major role in the FTC ruling, all those people telling you that this is all about blogs …

ARE WRONG.

Here’s the deal:

First, if you’re getting paid to sell something on a blog, yeah, you should go ahead and let people know. Maybe mention it in the TOS, or maybe say something like, “If you decide to get this thing, click this link first and they’ll pay me a little commission money so I can finally retire to that little fishing village in Mexico!” (BUT HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU.

These new guidelines are a whole lot more serious than this blog business.

They also cover how you can use testimonials …and this is likely to PERMANENTLY change the way we do business.

Here’s the interpretation straight from my FTC lawyer, Gary:

“…The most significant change to the revised guides is the deletion of the “safe harbor” that has long allowed advertisers to use testimonials who reported specific successful experiences with an advertised product or service as long as the advertiser included a disclaimer such as “Results not typical.” Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.”

Umm …right. Here’s the “Kern Translation”:

Let’s say you sell an exercise DVD.

And let’s say you’ve got a customer …we’ll call her “Patsy” …let’s say Patsy followed your DVD to the letter, worked out like crazy, watched what she ate, and lost 950 pounds.

Now, let’s say Patsy wrote you a testimonial and said “I lost 950 pounds thanks to this DVD!”.

Nothing weird there, right?

Up until these guidelines came out, you could be really safe by simply putting the standard “results not typical” disclaimer on your site. You’ve seen it 100 times, right?

It goes something like this: “Results not typical. Your results may vary.”

No big deal …up until now.

Here’s the key phrase form the “official” paragraph above:

required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.

What this means is that if you have a testimonial where someone gets an amazing result using your product, you’ve got to follow it up by saying something like this:

Results not typical. The average user uses this DVD as a coaster for their Big Gulp and never loses any weight at all.

And frankly, even doing that might be dangerous if you say “the average user uses this DVD as a coaster” because the FTC could theoretically argue that …well, you’re implying that therefore all anyone has to do is NOT use the DVD as a coaster and they’ll lose 950 pounds.

See? Easy to screw that one up.

Here’s more from my man Gary: “The FTC also said that it believes that it is “likely” that testimonials that present the specific experiences of a product user (e.g., the number of pounds or inches lost) will be viewed as claiming that those experiences are typical of what consumers will generally experience.”

Mmm hmm. Trouble with a capitol “T” right there, buddy.

Here’s the sentence that get’s you: viewed as claiming that those experiences are typical of what consumers will generally experience

In my opinion, this means that if you say Pasty lost 950 pounds, the FTC will view this as you saying the TYPICAL USER will lose 950 pounds.

And if you don’t have documented proof out the wazoo showing that the typical user loses 950 pounds, you’re hosed.

Here’s what this means to you

OK. Basically, if you use a testimonial that shows someone really hitting it out of the park, you can’t say “results not typical”.

You gotta say something like “Results not typical. The average user experiences XYZ.”

And if you don’t know what the average user’s results are, you’d either better find out …or simply not use these types of testimonials at all.

But this doesn’t mean that ALL testimonials are this serious. From what I understand, you don’t have to worry about any disclaimers if you’re using testimonials where your customers simply say they like your product, like you, and are happy with their purchase.

…It’s only when you’re conveying a specific result.

Here’s my advice

COMPLY, BY GOD!!

Look. Many marketers are going to scheme for days on how to “get around” this new ruling.

Don’t waste your time. You don’t “get around” the FTC. If you’re worried that a certain testimonial will get you in trouble, don’t use it.

In my experience, testimonials are overrated anyway.

My Mass Control sales video didn’t have any (but I did use them in pre-launch. I won’t do that any more.)

And our current “Screw Google” promotion doesn’t have any either.

If you deliver enough value BEFORE asking for the sale, you should be able to sell plenty of stuff forever.

We’re SUPER lucky as Internet Marketers because when you build a list, you can constantly be providing great value for your subscribers for free …and when it’s time for you to sell something, they don’t need too much convincing.

Anyway – that’s my take on this whole FTC thing.

Hopefully, it clears things up for you and will help you keep your nose clean!

Frank

P.S. I almost forgot to make this point. Any time you have a major change in marketing like this, you’ll see a big drop off in competition.

Lots of people will either screw themselves by not complying with the new regulations, or they’ll try to comply but fail to sell anything because they’re not delivering enough up-front value. Or they’ll just say, “aww …to hell with it” and quit.

All three of these scenarios do nothing but clear the way for you to get more customers by eliminating your competition.

Selling stuff is easy. All you gotta do is give away stuff that makes people happy …and then sell stuff that makes ‘em even happier.

No over-the-top testimonials needed

Now get out there and make some money!

*** If you enjoyed reading this blog, your results are not typical. The average reader eventually says to himself, “Shit. I shoulda just watched Family Guy or something.” Absolutely nothing in this post should be considered legal or professional advice. Seek the care and advice of a normal and sane person.

Peter Dudek said

Dan said

Well, good thing I don’t use testimonials that convey a specific result, then! I’ll just stick to ones saying what a good guy I am. Most people know that the majority of people are lazy hacks who will never put any effort into accomplishing something beyond the norm. So I don’t understand what the disconnect is between that understanding and “results not typical.” Should be so obvious that it doesn’t need to be said. Guess it’s just another avenue for people who were never going to succeed anyway to lay the blame on external circumstances (in this case, the marketer) and go back to their life of slothful indulgence.

As always Frank… I think you are RIGHT ON with this analysis of the FTC thing. And for the record, I’d rather read your insights than watch that stupid “Family Guy” or something. In fact, I’m not even sure my TV still works.

Hey Frank.. you are 100% correct in saying:
“Lots of people will either screw themselves by not complying with the new regulations, or they’ll try to comply but fail to sell anything because they’re not delivering enough up-front value. Or they’ll just say, “aww …to hell with it” and quit”…

but then again I too am not offering any legal advice, testimony, nor offering products to sale, nor coaching to change your Karma/Affirmation, nor wanting to grow my pre-qualified list of mega clients…Oh!!! wait-a-minute—I better not go that far..

thanks for the update…this ruling will effect all of us in someway…

Loyd La Rue
PS:
Thought of the Day: “The Most Difficult thing is the Decision to Act; The Rest is merely Tenacity.” author unknown..or maybe it was me but I can’t say for sure…

Frank brilliant as always. You made it very clear and simple how to overcome this rule change. I was never a big fan of testimonials anyway. Been to too many workshops where testimonials were always from people who attended the same workshop so they never held any weight when it came to my purchase ever. I totally agree with your philosophy of deliver huge value, keep your customers happy, deliver more value and sales will keep coming.

I also agree with clearing out the wusses…make room for those who are not easily deterred to carry on with business as usual with just a few strategic changes…simple really.

Thanks for sharing Frank this was very helpful and I retweeted so that more people will not get discouraged by this latest ruling.

As always Frank you see the positive side and show people the way to move forward no matter what gets thrown at you. That’s why you are the best mentor ever!

Dennis Totman said

This blows my whole harmonious vibe… I watched the first Screw Google video and you said you were a lawyer for NASA! Or was that a doctor?? I’m confused.. Anyway I took GREAT comfort in that knowing our astronauts were safe and legal. Now you tell me you’re not! Were you disbarred? If I can’t believe you how in the world can I believe the FTC!!

The problem with government is the continued creep into our freedoms. I believe they call that oppression. Do you think you could use Crowd Control in Congress to have them knock this crap off?

ps…. by the way 5 years ago I lost a $ 150k a month sales volume in MLM when the owner said, “This isn’t a big deal, what can the FTC do?!” and they fined him $ 2 million dollars a year later… thank GOD I had the tenacity of a bull and the swiftness of a gazelle and got out of there, now making 7-figures in another industry. But yeah…. THAT was serious.. and everyone thought it was a joke then too. So…. LISTEN TO FRANK!

The best use of testimonials I ever heard was from a financial planner guy who gave jackets away to his clients with his logo on them and they simply sent him picture of them wearing his jacket in super exotic places which he printed in his newsletter. Lots of social proof – no words needed.

Well then… thats USA Laws… what if you were to establish a business in another country that are not governed by these laws? – just a though… the US GOV sux – they are greedy bankers at heart! I am GLAD I live in Australia ;)It aint so bad here

Daniel said

Thanks Frank I read something earlier today on this subject and was a bit confused. You really did a great job of clearing it up for me.. I love being a subscriber on your list thanks for sharing all the great content that you do.

This is actually good news for me, because I now have even less reason to attempt to acquire testimonials.

Instead, I’m going to continue to give away even more really good free tutorials, and let people sort it out in the comments. It’s taken 9 months, and over 100 tutorials, but I’m now starting to get traction.

For my upcoming ebook, I’m going to simply ask people to say whether they liked reading it or not. Sure, it’s useful, and it will get people long term traffic results, but these guidelines really take the heat off of me. I tell people due to guidelines from FTC, I’m not really allowed to report any specific results, so if you had fun reading it, let me know. If it’s no fun, full refund.

In the end, I don’t think these guidelines are going to change anything at all though. Gullible and greedy people will still find a way to get ripped off, then complain about their stupidity. You can’t con an honest man.

Pam said

Gee, isn’t it just wonderful that our government has the time and money to protect us like this? When I would merely settle for good services like decent roads, a good police and fire department, good public schools so I didn’t have to send my kids to private …

I really love those sites that have a bunch of testimonials even before the product is ever launched. Yea I really believe the “I let a few people test it before I released it to the public” especially when you see a behind the scenes video later and they are still “creating” the product LOL! I think the FTC should crack down on all the hype and lies going on.

Regards,

Miles

P.S. I just got an email today that said I could make $40,000 per month from a matrix “cough cough, yea right”!

This FTC thing is an inch away from going after affiliate product marketing. Maybe they would twist what they define as a blogger to include anyone recommending someone else’s product. The fines are up to 11,000 dollars. Maybe a good time to get hosting Off-shore.

This is a real testimonial from a real person.
I Gary McElwain do solemnly swear that I find
Frank Kerns blog post to much more educational
and way more entertaining than “The Family Guy”
or any TV show’s for that matter.

Except for maybe “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” and
“Two and a Half Men”.

These results are not typical of the regular blog
reader. Unless of course they follow Frank Kerns blog.

’bout time that domeone decided that this industry
needed some regulating and actually did something
about it.

i’ve been predicting for a LONG time that this was
coming.

unfortunately i don’t think that it goes far
enough….

while a majority of marketers are legitimate, the
minority are always the most vocal, the most easily
noticed, and as in any industry – the ones who
ruin it for the rest by making this industry seem
as though it’s filled with snake oil, smoke &
mirror charlatans.

Hey Frank, as usual, great advice. I’m sure many are running for the hills trying to figure out how they can promise everything and deliver nothing. You have always been the opposite and way over deliver. The wild, wild west internet days are gone. Be professional, act professional, (ok you like to have fun and while you are entertaining, I’ve learned more from you than anyone else out there, both free and paid for info.)

Please try and keep Obama out of it or no one will be allowed to make more than $1,000 a week or be taxed at 90% for every dollar above 1k. FTC is one thing, our President is a totally other deal….. The world is changing and it doesn’t look good for anyone who works their ass off trying to get ahead!

So were you wearing your full feminine dress when you wrote this or just your dress?

I am not referring to your advice which is right on. I mean wtf does the FTC have to do with any of this anyway. Where in the constitution does it say we should have these regulations. You know Frank you are very visible and I know you had a situation with our regulatory agencies. Seems to me that is all the more reason to stand up and say enough of this crap.

We are capable of deciding what is valuable and what is a scam. I don’t feel we need the govt to protect us here.

Great job on the advice of complying but big opportunity passed to say to the FTC a few choice words – delivered with love of course.

Thanks very much Frank, for the very clear explanation of what this ruling is all about.
The one thing to keep in mind is that the ruling isn’t up until December, so we have until then to sell those DVD’s that claim fame, fortune, and svelte bodies, without a problem. After December, it’s going to be a different story.
Also, just because you have a foreign address, you can still be taken to the cleaners, in our very biased judicial system where anything goes, as long as it hurts the greedy capitalists.
One thing this ruling will not do is make anyone more honest or truthful in both their marketing or packaging just more careful.
Have a great today, you all!
joe

When you STOP promoting internet marketing products and finally discover that there are little niche markets which have millions of people to sell something to you kinda just shrug your shoulders about the testimonial issue with the FTC and the disclaimers, etc… Blah… Blah…Blah…

What exactly do I mean? Should everyone ignore legalities? NO! More like you should high tail it out of the IM niche because there ain’t no money in it at all unless of course you’re Mike Filsaime, Frank Kern, Michael Rassmussen, or Anthony Tomei ( oh shiznit, that’s ME!!!) LOL! Seriously though…

“Find a hungry market and feed it”

There are PLENTY that even guys like FRANK aren’t aware of himself ( Frank, email me sometime and I’ll show you a thing or two: ) I know, I am in 3 niche markets right now that no one would ever even guess I’m in. And you know what?

They all make a TON of money using totally FREE traffic sources. Yeah, FREE TRAFFIC SOURCES. ( Again Frank, If you want to learn some stuff I’ll be glad to show ya. Just e mail me. I know you probably STILL have my e mail address : )

Really though, Frank is 100% RIGHT (Frank, Don’t you get sick of being a superhuman money sucking machine from the future?)

As always Frank has great content and even better products, so if any of you were on the fence and never purchased his stuff before it’s worth 10 times the price he’s charging. Trust me, I learned everything I know from Frank, accept I watch ‘HOW’ and ‘WHAT’ he did and simply applied it to my own system of marketing. But… Not AS good as purchasing one of his STELLAR products. It’s just not the same. I would have probably made a whole helluva lot more if I broke down and bought MASS CONTROL.

(Hey Frank, would that be considered a TESTIMONIAL?) LOL!

Anyways, I wish everyone a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But don’t go lookin for it, that leprecaun stuff is just fantasy BS. Later……..

I give away a lot of free content. In fact it’s the sort of thing the FDA would LOVE to stomp on with both feet, because I have a recipe that cured my cancer. Others have used the recipe and also become cancer free.

I don’t sell the recipe, nor do I sell the ingredients. Thus there is no “Trade” for the FTC to regulate. Hahaha, I laugh in their oppressive faces. (FDA, too, since I don’t diasgnose or prescribe!)

I also sell a book that tells the story of a doctor who cured cancer. They can’t touch that either.

If you sell internet marketing products, you can give away free stuff and put as many testimonials about that as you wish because there is no “Trade” to regulate. Use your outrageous ‘tests’ on your free stuff and then for the stuff you sell tell your prospects the oppressive FTC won’t allow ‘tests’ otherwise you’d provide them out the yinyang.

Meanwhile, someone needs to sue the FTC for restraint of trade. They just lost a case regarding being able to make truthful statements about supplements!

Dawn said

I welcome the thinning out of the wheat from the chaff! I wasted so much of my time looking at worthless crap on this internet, that I am already worn out and ready to just give up! Law abiding citizens don’t mind new laws…only scoundrels like the no-rules thing! YES…I SAID SCOUNDRELS!!
I was born in 1867..what do want from me!?
I will sell you some ocean view property in Arizona REAL CHEAP!!
Or, how about some snake oil? It can fix ALL your ailments!
(All that was a lie..of course! What ya gonna do about it?!)

Paul said

Good thoughts… but don’t forget that there’s a whole world out there beyond your U.S. borders using dot COM, dot ORG and even dot US domain names who have NO CLUE who, or what, the FTC is. Heck, I had to Google it to find out myself.

These people will not give a toss what the new rulings are – or the old ones – and neither will the FTC affect them in ANY way. And these are your/our competitors, and perhaps even affiliates for the same products.

So the FTC is the Federal Trade Commission, and they supposedly exist “to maintain fair and free competition”.

Tell that to the nations who continually BEG the U.S. Government year after year to grant them a free trade agreement for some parity across the borders. And tell that to the farmers and producers of the world who cannot compete with the United States and other countries who subsidize their industries. For example, the U.S. direct government payments to U.S. farmers is projected to be $12.6 billion in 2009. That makes it hard for the rest of the world to compete. Let the FTC take a look at THAT and see how “fair and free” the competition is!

The internet is the Wild West of the 21st century. There will always be modern ‘snake oil’ sellers. Let the BUYER BEWARE.

Great information that you put out and Thanks for giving heads up on use some test testimonial. I would not use the great ones just because everyone thinks you are over hyping your product. I look forward for more information soon.

You lie, you get into trouble. Most folks were taught this by their loving and law-abiding parents when they were growing up. Some of those same folks appear to have forgotten what they were taught, and have slipped over to the “other side”.

On the other hand, if you strive to be honest and provide the greatest value you can, as you do Frank (and many others, as well), then as mentioned, the “playing field” will certainly become less crowded, as the less than ethical marketers leave it.

Good stuff man…best review of this new crap-ola law I’ve seen, and a much needed one at that. I agree that competition drops at a time like this, which is always fun. I saw it happen when the do-not-call lists happened. Ha. Salespeople thought it was time to throw in the towel. Me and other people came in and cleaned up. There is ALWAYS cash to be made, and there is ALWAYS opportunity…but sometimes you gotta actually know what you’re doing. DON’T GET HOSED…it’s time to throw in the towel everyone! Uncle Sam has finally screwed us all. *wink*

Kieren said

What an awesome post Frank! very informative, to the point and highly entertaining/funny

My favorite insight was your dumbed-down yet powerful marketing wisdom of “Selling stuff is easy. All you gotta do is give away stuff that makes people happy …and then sell stuff that makes ‘em even happier”

..It solves a lot of problems when you just adhere to these simple guidelines!

you are a wizard my internet marketing friend. so transparent yet calculating, so true yet manipulative, so original in your approach and totally committed to the process. This is valuable information, as always, and I appreciate your sincerity.
I haven’t made my fortune online, yet – but I feel the time is coming, soon.

Guess I’m not typical – and I think that is a good thing. I use very few testimonials (mainly ones where people say I’m better than sliced bread!) and I don’t believe the gushy, over the top, typical testimonials I see EVERYWHERE.

Thanks for affirming that I am on the right track. I give away a LOT of stuff and sell stuff on its merits and my track record – not on someone gushing on a video about how they made a gazillion dollars 3 minutes after they met me!!

I’ve been consulting in ethical online marketing for some time now. I agree with everything Frank said, and I also see why the FTC needed to go this far. If you can’t be fair and honest in the way you advertise than you just don’t need to be in business. The goal is to make money by providing something of value. I wouldn’t buy anything if I heard a women lost 950 pounds, actually that would send alarm bells off in my head.

Delighted to see you quite those big income testies. Giving good stuff away has worked in the past, although adding the continuity is losing its luster for me, anyway. Good simple advice is something you do really do well.

The new testimonial regs will apply big time to MLM too.

P.S. Hope you don’t mind, but I couldn’t resist doing a Cartman post and using you last night. http://bit.ly/VsIQH

As always, you have once again helped our community and provided extraorinarily helpful advice – and in the most timely manner. Your genius and ‘cut to the chase’ approach inspire me and thousands of others while steering us in the direction of our goals (and keeping it simple but funny). Thanks for everything you do, Frank!

This is just another step toward the government controlling everything we do or say.

Damn I’m getting tired of it!

Yeah, I don’t like fake stuff either, but whatever happened to self-regulation and just busting those who are heinous?

The tax code is thousands of pages and nearly impossible to comprehend and soon the FTC will achieve that with the Internet…at least I think that is their goal so they can “regulate it better” and tax us more.

Dan Hellman said

“Therefore, unless the advertiser possesses and relies upon adequate substantiation for this representation, the advertisement should either clearly and conspicuously disclose what the generally expected performance would be in the depicted circumstances or clearly and conspicuously disclose the limited applicability of the endorser’s experience to what consumers may generally expect to achieve. ”

Note the last part of the sentence after the “or”. It appears that a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the limited applicability of the endorsement will be allowed. The question is – what does that disclaimer look like? Once the FTC gives more guidance or rules on a disclaimer that is acceptable, then you may see many marketers copy that type of disclaimer and use these testimonials without fear of an FTC lawsuit. But until then…

It is too bad the FDA is allowed to let Big Pharma get away with many hyped up uses for some of their Chemical drugs, and they hide the negative results of some of their studies and trials. Then it takes years and many deaths of patients before the FDA bans the products or makes the Drug companies place a warning on the product.
Even when those drugs kill many people and a natural product that may cause a serious problem with one person because that person over dosed on it. The FDA then bans the sale of that natural product in America, even when it will benefit thousands of people, that use it as directed.

The example is about Vioxx as the drug, and Ephedra as the natural product. The FTC allows Big Pharma to advertise on TV about prescription drugs with horrible side effects and lets them convince people that they must ask there doctor if it is the right drug for them, but you can’t say things that natural products will cure, as they will stop you from saying that. Like Cherries. The cherry farmers made claims about the great health benefits cherries will do for you, and the FTC or the FDA made them stop advertising those benefits.

What our Government departments do, is let Corporations get away with what ever they want to do, and stop anyone else that may say a natural product will heal or cure a disease.

Nature provided us with every thing we need to be healthy.
And yet I have found out after having colon cancer that it was all the chemicals in the food that caused it and now I am not sick anymore after changing my food to all natural organic, and don’t ingest any chemicals anymore. That simple.
It is because Big Pharma has bought our government and our elected politicians, thats why we don’t have a public health care system.

[...] marketer, Frank Kern, goes into the impact among Internet Marketers on his blog post titled, New FTC Thing Is A Bigger Deal Than You Might Think. It’s a good read and should help guide you into the chilling effects of this legislation (and [...]

as usual, you are the Mahn…As per this FTC hysteria, can You say, “Y2K?”
I would love for the feds to clean up the stench on the web, but we All know that our intrepid watchdogs will only stormtrooper Shirley’s home cleaning tips. They will continue to send tarp money to the greatest testimonial shysters on the planet.
The revolution will not be televised….

I think nowadays testimonials are almost ignored by most people. I know I never believe a word of testimonial on an IM site.

I’ve been kicking around an idea of starting a testimonial verification service and charging IMers to have a seal on their site.

I think all the testimonials I use (which are real) fall into the ‘OK to use’ category – “I love your product.” etc… I guess however, that wouldn’t need the “Results are not typical.” since most of my customers love my product, right? LOL

The day the FTC can implement this without any hitches is the day I will see pigs fly! Absolutely unmanageable. Someone posted about this on another blog had to share “The FTC is going to chase down some waitress who posts something nice about her restaurant without ‘clear and conspicuous’ disclosure. And how is Paris Hilton going to list all of her free swag in 140 characters? FTC, pah-leeze.” Couldn’t really say it any better. FTC you Fail on all counts!

Rick Berg said

As always, good shit Kern! Thanks for sharing the details from your lawyer! It’s discouraging to read that some people want to just make this into a “just tell the truth and all will be fine”.. this isn’t about lying or telling the truth, this is about the potential perception of of what the FTC thinks about your product or offer and the results they can bring.. This is total horseshit and obviously very subjective.. these types of rules are so broad and far reaching, the FTC can come pull down your panties and give you the ol’ latex glove treatment for just about anything you say or do to promote your product or services. So even if you do the right thing and put up proper testimonials and go as far as having signed affidavits on file for every testimonial, you can’t share these great results with your prospective customers in a powerful way. As we all know, social proof is a big part of marketing and with watered down testimonials like “I like Frank Kern, buy his shit”, you totally change the efficacy of most ad copy. To me, this seems like the FTC is just throwing out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to marketing and sales regulation.. what a shame!

Rick

Suzanne said

If you enjoyed reading this COMMENT, your results are not typical. The average reader usually says to himself, “Shit… what kind of lame ass COMMENT was that.” Absolutely nothing in this COMMENT should be considered legal or professional advice. Seek the care and advice of Frank Kern, he has a big time attorney to keep us all out of trouble.

Frank you are SO on the money with this one. I’ve already seen several sites trying to “game” the ruling. Frankly I’ve never been impressed when a marketer shows screen shots from his CB account or big dollar checks. That just smacks of BS. Anyone with half a brain has to know that the markerter isn’t going to really show specifically how they made that money. To do so would be killng the golden goose. Many times you’ll see fake testimonials on earn in ome type sites and I think these are what the FTC is / was targeting.

People listen to Frank on this one. He KNOWS how the FTC can screw with you even when you are doing everything above board.

Mike Lennox said

spot on, dude. FTC, as you know, is a very onerous agency that reads and interprets its rules and regs with very broad brush strokes. the idea is to roll over some easy targets to make their point and point everyone in the space on notice. it’s a “no win” even if you’re fortunate enough to win because of the time, resources and money it takes to vigorously defend oneself when the FTC hits you with a Complaint, often accompanied by a “ex parte” asset freeze order if the case warrants such an action.

so, ppl, listen to Kern. transparency and proper disclosure is a good thing, embrace it. deception to make a few bucks will just show you to be dumb.

the one concern to watch in the future will be when one of the more aggressive FTC staff attorneys makes up and broadens his own definition of a “blog” as it relates to testimonials and results posted on the Internet in a complaint they may choose to bring. trust me, the Courts and judges don’t know, they’ll just read what the government has said, accept it as fact, and the “defendant” will be forced to litigate, or settle after the FTC gets its pound of flesh. this is not where you want to find yourself. COMPLY!

As usual you hit the proverbial nail on the head! I hate reading all those testimonials and found most of them somewhat over the top anyway. The sites I buy from sold me BEFORE the “sales page” because I dug their CONTENT! That’s where the real proof is… how much REALLY GOOD CONTENT they provide before they try to sell me. If THAT works, then usually the product is worth the price of admission.

Excellent commentary Frank. Although it is sad that more and more restrictions are being levied on the last great free-enterprise system (the internet), it could actually result in weeding out those less scrupulous online marketers.

P.S. If this comment was deemed worthy and you agreed with it … please know that your results are *not* typical, and results may vary.

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May enrol Assocates and sell JVG products and services. (Costs/auto-ship paid from profits)
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This choice has the distrinct advantage of starting your new business already enrolled in four of JVG`s seven companies. This step is often referred to as the JVG-4 company strategy. Auto ship payments will normally be deducted from commisions.

Dan Hellman makes for a good question. The answer as I read it is provide more value and it won’t matter anyways. There are plenty of instances in marketing and writing good copy where that kind of tagline isn’t necessary.

good stuff, frank, I love your attitude, just give your customers your absolute best stuff on the front end for free and they’ll be eager to buy your paid products. In fact, price won’t even be an issue if you over deliver on the free stuff.

Hi Frank,
thanks for providing such a valuable insight, and you are of course 100% correct. It is refreshing to see that there are genuine people out there like yourself, who provide valuable content and as a result make a buck ethically.

Will most certainly look into it further, although that being said, not sure how it will effect me in Australia, perhaps it is merely a matter of time.

Swans said

Because, as we know, when it comes to lying, no one beats the politicians—.

I think that most of the time the government should stay out of the way, especially when they’re unable or unwilling to protect society against rip-off masters like Madoff.

And I think that since it’s all about lobbying and stuff, then maybe it’s timet that small business owners unite and start lobbying too.

Yes, some Internet marketers give Internet marketing a bad name. But then now it’s the Internet age, where consumers talk and complain about bad marketers.

So if the FTC is going to enforce this rule, does that mean that Amazon is going to have to get rid of all the reviews.

Because after all, the reviews on Amazon are “testimonials” or are they just reviews because Amazon is a big player, and the law only applies to small entrepreneurs.

But again, I think that as long as the entrepreneurs just say” Well, we’ll live with that and just comply” then the idiots who run government, who have no clue how the market work, who have no clue about how the economy works, will just sit around and put out “non-sense” laws.

Again, if this new law is for real, then I need to see all the comments (especially the positive reviews on Amazon) banned and erased.

On Amazon, I know one category: Radar detector, where some users actually praise their detectors and brag how many times they’ve been able to avoid speeding tickets because they had XYZ radar detector.

Let’s find some real jobs for these government officials who live off the real people who do real work, and spend their time wondering “how can we screw the people who feed us?”

hi Frank, thanks for this (results not typical – not everyone thanks Frank) – I feel like a real marketer now – cose i aint going anywhere! (although results are not typical and many are just not as tenancious as me), thanks so much for the free advice that likely cost you an arm and a leg to get (again results not typical, some lawyers only require your left foot)………
its like that isn’t it? haha
onwards!
rach

Freaking FTC scares the hell out of me. In all honesty i am not much of a fan of testimonials but its kind a hard to get the ole mind around not using them… hmmm… something to think on anyway. Thanks Frank, great info!

Charlie said

Hey Frank,
How about dropping the price of Mass Control for the little broke, unemployed bastards like me? Come on dude! do a special or some shit! That sucks, every time you launched this I was broke and now even more. Google loves to fuck with me, then again it doesn’t help that I’m idiot, but hey I’ve been at this for the last year and half, and still here trying my ass off…

Aight.. whatever I just felt like ranting. The FTC are a bunch of Nazis, thank God i don’t use testimonials for anything.

Yeah as far as the disclosure thing it just makes sense to disclose when you are getting money for something. I created a disclosure page for general items and for specifics I will disclose in post or on page. Wrote a post about it on my blog. I don’t agree with the FTC but I don’t want phone calls from the government either.

*OUR LAWYERS INSIST WE MAKE THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER: These results ARE NOT TYPICAL which is why no specific income claims are made. Some members may make little or no money at all with this program. Individual results will vary greatly and in accordance to your input, determination, hard work, and ability to follow directions.

Sucks to have to say it, but most people who buy the programs leave them on the shelf collecting dust. I wonder if you did a focus group of 10 people, had them all DO the program, and shared their results if that would calm the FTC down?

We live in such a nanny nation. Now the FTC wants to hold US responsible for the inaction of a buyer. How is that our issue?

Wow! You’re on top of this. I had just heard of this earlier today and then was planning to get around to it. I guess since I have a few blogs I should be up on this…though I’m not really using testimonials right now…but was about to employ some. Good news for me that I was going to be using more service oriented ones vs. gonzo results. Thanks Frank!

“If you deliver enough value BEFORE asking for the sale, you should be able to sell plenty of stuff forever.”

There simply are NO guarantees for anything in this life except that everyone will die someday…testimonials are nice…but…they always talk about the results and not the process and the costs associated with getting those results…and those are as individual as we all are. Each result is typical of only one person…the person that got that specific result.

If I get people to KNOW me..LIKE me…and TRUST me…I can HELP them…they get the results they are looking for…and they stick with me for a long time…The Triangle of Trust…

Susan said

Hey Frank, lets go into business together. I have an idea where people pay us and submit testimonials, we run them past a lawyer and tell them if they are legal? Something like “Legal Testimonials”
I have proof that it works: This guy just wrote me

Dear Frank & Donahue, thank you so much for checking out my testimonials! You told me which ones worked and now I made $6,237.15 in just one week. Here’s a copy of my paypal account for last week…etc. etc. Thanks, Trey Haymaker from Seizure, Alabama.

Frank, this is HUGE! I’ve been using testimonials in my dental marketing for years, and I’ve coached dentists to do the same. Totally agree that the best path is to comply. However…there’s one more question for your attorney. If we’re required to state the “actual, average results”, can we report average results of USERS of our products/services (those who follow the recommended directions and actually DO something)…or do we have to list average results of BUYERS (many who never comply, or never use what they buy)?
Example: Jenna’s teeth got 10 shades whiter! Average results for those who use the product as directed are 3-5 shades whiter. OR Jenna’s teeth got 10 shades whiter! Average whitening buyer doesn’t stick with it and is not using the product as directed, and thus their teeth don’t get more than 1-2 shades whiter if that because they are lazy morons that don’t floss either!
All my best,
Chris
Dr. Chris Bowman

Frank,
Thanks for the explanation. I read an article about this in the paper this morning and it totally missed the discussion you had on “results not typical”. I have yet to use any testimonials, and after reading this I probably won’t, OR I will ask them to avoid using results and just say they liked the product or what a great guy I am or whatever. Wait a minute; if one person said I was a great guy, would I have to say out of x testimonials, one thinks I’m a great guy?
Where oh where does it end? Ol’ Willy (Shakespeare) was RIGHT! We all know the line I’m referring to; the Eagle used it in one of their songs. In today’s world, I am hesitant to even type the words; someone would misconstrue them as a threat for sure and then I would be in trouble, and you would be in trouble for letting me post them here.

John said

Why don’t we all just recognize these FCC actions for what they are… anti-advertising/marketing regulations. Which really means anti-business. And in case you haven’t realized it yet, these FCC actions don’t just affect the narrow interests of bloggers/online marketing and related areas.

They affect every business in the U.S.

I am really surprised at how many commentators here and elsewhere (who are Americans) who are ready and willing to just roll over because the FCC (or another government agency) says “boo.”

When someone says “jump,” do you ask “How high?”

I am really, really surprised at the lack of indignation. My God, what has become of this country? If they were alive, I am sure the Founding Fathers would be hanging their heads in shame.

More change from the Obama administration. Not only does he steal “yes we can ” fro
the kids show Bob the Builder (Can we build it? Yes we can!), he now decides to shred more of our free speech rights. How can the FTC seriously belive that previous dis laimers were not enough? Results not typical was clearly enough to warn anyone wth half a brain that any product’s results require some effort by the purchaser. More governmnet regulation and a further reduction of our liberties.

Sorry, but this FTC regulation is a bridge too far! Instead of the government having to prove there is a lie on a website, the gov’t has preemptively set up an impossible standard with the assumption that the website is lying.

There is NO company that can afford to track every customer to find out how they are doing. Plus, the customer has NO obligation to reveal how good they are doing with what they have purchased.

This is an outrageous curtailment of our rights to operate freely.

For years, the FTC would not allow truthful claims about nutritional supplements. But recently a company finally stood up to them and won! This new rule is even more onerous that the one that was struck down, but is an obvious attempt to reinstate the rule they were just defeated on simply by rewording the regulation.

BTW, those of you who think testimonials aren’t important. Watch how your sales drop.

I love testimonials. If you don’t think your customers consider them to be important, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening.

But regardless of our feelings about testimonials, the government has no business deciding what is acceptable on a sales page unless there is actual evidence of a crime or tort. Otherwise, this is a fishing expedition that allows pre-censorship BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT that assumes wrongdoing. The only wrongdoing here is being perpetrated by the feds.

If the feds want to enforce this law, it should be their responsibility to prove track all the customers. Let them ask each customer questions that violate their privacy and let the FTC see how far they get.

Outrageous and illegal…that’s what that regulation is. Once again, it’s just a new tactic in an attempt to circumvent their recent defeat in court.

As for the disclosure that you make a commission from the sale of a product, I have a rhetorical question:

Does every ad in every newspaper, magazine, website, TV, radio have to carry this disclaimer? Of course not. So now we have the FTC determining private blog site content.

It’s none of the effing business of the FTC what types of relationships the owner of the blog has with the products that are offered for sale. Customers have been reading ads for over 200 years and making purchases based in part on the ad. But now the FTC thinks it needs to warn readers regarding truthful statements in the ads??

Benjamin Franklin, who ran ads for his Franklin stoves in his newspaper – a newspaper he owned – must be rolling over in his grave!

Rich said

ZenGlen said

There is something else that is important here folks. If you are an affiliate for any product, you need to disclose your relationship to the advertiser. This applies to your email messages as well as activity on social networks.

That was well put. As someone who is definitely not a typical user, I must say that I didn’t make 42 million dollars in the last 5 minutes of reading your blog, nor did I stay at a holiday inn express.

However, I do feel more educated on the issues of marketing and the FTC.

Thank you for putting out useful information in a fun and entertaining manner.

Sean Louden said

I agree completely, when things get tough people just quite, more business for us!
Thanks Frank, You’re the man!

P.S.
I grew up Surfing the North Shore of Maui as Professional Surfer, if you ever need a hook up there let me know. Tow in Surfing, secret spots the whole nine yads.
Yes, I am kissing your ass, haha, no I’m not full of shit.

The rules are tightening that’s all! We all had to see this coming, I’ve only been doing Internet Marketing since May and non of this surprises me at all. Kind of funny how they do this to I.M. but not to Mags, Newspapers, TV, Radio, or any of the other ad platforms in the market. I guess this goes to show that they are finally realizing that people go directly to their computers now when they want to be in the know.

Thanks a ton of the info Frank, more great free content! Love your shit Frank, your content that is!

I’ve been selling Forex Products since 2008 which are regulated under the CFTC and NFA and their advertising rules are waaaay more serious than the FTC. First of if your head line is “Make Money…” with a 20 pt font, you have to have a disclaimer also with a 20pt font saying “FOREX TRADING IS RISKY” right beside it. Testimonials have to be backed by actual dollar for dollar results plus a very visible disclaimer as well, and a lot more restrictions that their lawyers will never tire of correcting / threatening you with every chance they get…

All things considered,you’d think that there’s no way I can sell this with all these disclaimers, but the truth is, HONESTY SELLS More than glitz and glamor.

True Marketing, whether Online or Offline is about trust, and trust is built by being upfront with the product that you sell!

I appreciate and agree with your perspective about this, Frank. In the end, it’s no big deal if you’re an ethical marketer to begin with. As an integrity and ethics expert I believe we all have an ethical responsibility to do full disclosure to potential purchasers when we make a profit from their purchase, whenever this is not explicitly clear to the consumer to begin with. And I agree that when we follow your marketing strategies, Frank, we don’t need to use testimonials about highly unusual outrageously amazing results.

I believe our society has suffered for the past few decades from a devastatingly damaging formula that has contributed to manipulative marketing practices: lack of self-responsibility on the parts of consumers + lack of social responsibility on the parts of business people. This fatal combination creates an engraved invitation for government to intervene.

I am not a fan of government intervention. Historically, government has by and large been persuaded to introduce these kinds of business regulations only after too many consumers have been treated in unethical or misleading ways by too many businesses. I view government regulation as a last resort when this is the only way to get people to engage in ethical business practices.

This leads to the question I have been asking regarding this FTC ruling: Did the government introduce this new regulation before the affiliate marketing industry proved unable to police itself voluntarily, or did the government start regulating before such attempts proved insufficiently successful? (This issue has been rumbling around since 2006. BTW, this new regulation does not take effect until December 1, 2009 (unless uproar forces it to be delayed).

Rather not say. said

Sorry to be the negative guy in the bunch but this is going to KILL a lot of online sells for a lot of businesses. In fact I’m either going to be re-purposing one of my products that has sold online for 11 years or might just take the site down.

Because saying “You might not get an results at all” is not a really great closing line. In fact I just sent and email out to all of my list telling the to buy it now becuase I might just take the site down. And there is no way to find out the typical results of 15,000 customers over the last 11 years.

I already changed my copy and it has no impact when you make it follow all of these rules.

Yes giving value up front is the way to to go but that does not work in all situation and with all products. This will hit the weight loss industry and supplement industry very hard.

“Results Not Typical” is bad enough. Sorry but Copy writing 101 is testimonials that are specific. There is a huge difference between “I lost 9lbs in a two weeks” and “Hey Jacks a really great guy buy his products!”

I just wonder how many other limitations there are. Can you still say “Make up to $10,000 a month!” Or do you have to change it to “You might make money or you might not! I did but you who knows!” Yeah that’s compelling!

Funny thing how, were in this recession and yet let’s make some laws that make it harder to sell products. Oh yeah but forget about doing anything regarding our horrible health care and I’m not talking about if it’s free or not.

“Doctors are the 3rd leading cause of death in this country” (google it it was put out by a medical journal) they offer no money back guarantee, and then go after people marking products…lol I think maybe drug companies should stop advertising also, why didn’t they through that in the bill?

I’m sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s looking to me like becoming and Expat.

sounds like we’re moving a little bit on to 1984. Or are we beyond that date?

Seriously, as the typical customer is taking in all the stuff from big pharma, all the junk on tv, and nothing of value with his food – in short is conditioned to get more sick and more stupid every minute – there has to be a federal protection of their purse. Really, imagine they would spend their measly wages on something that would bring them out of the downward spiral, then there would nothing be left for big pharma et al. and less in the future. This cannot happen.

If we keep that in mind we’ll be less surprised and “hosed” by future Consumer Protection Schemes.

Frank, thanks a lot for doing the work for us, speaking of turning adversity into a stepping stone.

And thanks a lot for sharing your insights about the measurable value of testimonials. As you are an infusionsoft user and by watching your stuff it’s safe to assume that this is not an opinion but a thorougly tested fact.

And also your advice on building your customer base with value is the sound way for the future. If someone has results from your product before he can get a hand on the product that’s the best testimonial he’ll ever get. Or do you think that if Patsy already lost 300 pounds because of your free advice she would think “Hehe, I keep my reminder of 650 pounds to save those bucks.”? And if she would then well, off with her to…

I have to agree with Kelly, points very well made, and taken. The Benejamin Franklin example should really be enough to illustrate the point even to the most conservative, “patriotic” types.

Free Enterprise is supposedly a foundational principal of this country. Imposing disclosure requirements on web based media that is more restrictive than other media is really just not fair, and certainly is not in the spirit of Free Enterprise.

And what about all those late night infomercials selling thighmasters and tae-bo? Half the people in them are hired models and actresses…if they were required to provide testimonials, they would be blatantly false and certainly not “typical”, yet web businesses are forced not only to provide completely truthful testimonials (which I have no problem with) but we are now legally required to bear the responsibility of educating consumers as to what “typical” means, and whether they can expect to experience it?

Much strangely weirdness is afoot here methinks. Definitely should be filed under “Shenanigans” with a captial “S”.

I am wondering how this affects creating and using in depth customer interviews?

Seems unfortunately that those likely will be treated as “testimonials” as well? I don’t want to stop using these as not only are they effective, but they provide value to the prospect because they are inspiring and show the prospect what they could accomplish if they get off their arse and do the work!

Glad you were able to put perspective to this stuff. I liked your line towards the end about building and nurturing an email list….I lost a lot of money going for the directly sell without a warm and fuzzy presale (free valuable stuff).

Hey, tell Trey to give me on the email subject project.

DC

Nicholas said

Your words reinforce the obvious: actions (giving away valuable content) speak
louder than words (testimonials of whatever variety) – by laying the goundwork for long term income and avoiding the likely possibility of expensive legal fees. Many thanks.

Glenn said

Frank, your info and delivery are always – bar none – SuperCalaFragileLipstickExtraHalitosis. Thanks for lookin’ out for us. The sharing of info like this [which is so characteristic of you] makes you a friend to us all. Be assured that the info and you are much appreciated.

Frank, great post and thank you so much for clarifying. I’m not all that concerned about this. I’m actually happy about it. It’ll keep the legitimate folks in business and keep the rest out. That’s great in my book.

Do like me: promote your weight loss product from China, and collect in HongKong. Fuck the ducks. Let’s have them sue you in Mao Ze Dong territory.
Just kiddin’.
Comply with the law, that’s the only way.
chinaman
PS- Frankie, I loved your ** PS.

Here in Germany these rules have been in place for a long time. Not only that, in Germany it is illegal to have a testimonial on your website if that person is also selling your product. You and the person who gave you the testimonial can be fined up to €7500, around $10,000. The Germans also have companies searching online for these testimonials.

Pretty soon, the USA must fall into line with the rest of Europe and help to clean up all the crap online especially in Marketing. Too many marketers make things up just to try and generate sales to unwitting customers who beleive everything they read.

Frank, you are da man! My email is flooded with sales pitches from all the wanna-be gurus, but when I receive an email from you, I open it first. You are always informative, clever, and entertaining. Thanks for the info and heads up on the FTC.

Here’s a spontaneous, atypical poem summarizing it all. It needs a hip-hop beat in the background for full effect. The poem might produce an atypical release of endorphins which could result in euphoria. But that’s very unlikely. Most people just fall asleep, so make sure you have a cushion handy to break your fall if you are standing up when you read it. i wouldn’t want to get into trouble. Here it is (remember the hip-hop beat):

Frank is an atypical guy,
Who likes to fly,
In the face of the FTC

By offering great value to you & me,

‘cos he’s an outlier, who outs the liars
With a charm and humor that keeps us for hours,

If it is as simple as that I see it easy to comply. I always felt a little corny and cheesy using testimonials anyway. As a matter a fact I have only used them twice. I really couldn’t see the big difference.

I can defiantly see the positive side of things here and how it could be intended to clean up the garbage. But and there is always a but when it comes to the government it seems.There seems to be a hint of greed with not only our elected officials also with any agency that is remotely connected to them. As I said on my last post Guilty until you are convicted because they seized all your resources and given you a public attorney that is also paid by them.

I actually see opportunity and keeping my nose clean is a non issue for me anyway.
Brad West ~ onomoney

Mikko said

Absolutely d’accord. Makes sense. I mean, when it starts to rain, what do you do? You take an umbrella, still go out and keep your smile on your face, don’t you. Like in the great movie “Singing In The Rain”.

BTW: Your disclaimers getting funnier and funnier. Let’s do some homework, clean up the one or two pages we need to and keep selling stuff.

(Listen people: I had some — actually enough — legal training to understand that I should not be a lawyer. This comment is for your education in the history of movies, “Singing In The Rain”, only. No legal advice here, no legal advice there.)

Not sure what the point is in posting a comment now since it’s the 195th comment on this fantastic post as I obviously read my emails way too late and just miss out on all the serious action up front that is so exhilarating and titillating.

Does this mean that Mr. Banana Fingers (aka Tony) is going to have to be taken out when he says your strategies generated him an easy $1MM on his own New Money Masters product that he partnered with you on because he’s giving you a testimonial about an idea you gave him unrelated to any actual products, but was from your consulting with him? I bet you get jacked on that one from the FnTC. Evil, man!

Thanks for spending the dough to get the super-duper-oakie-fied translation into layman’s terms from your fancy pants attorney.

If you have your testimonials on video and your results-not-typical in the “small print”, I wonder how many of your time-poor small-attention-span audience will actually bother to look beyond the video for further qualification.

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to make this post. I believe that many beginning Internet Marketers don’t have the money to hire an attorney right away, so this insight that you have passed on is very helpful!

He is the slimmer version of my youngest son, so how could I not love him!

Now, regarding our law makers!

Please do not castigate them, just remember, the country …”convoy is slowed down to protect the slowest ship in the fleet”.
Those ones reclining on the couch & a few other vivid descriptions others have mentioned.
They will NEVER enjoy the freedom of accomplishment of their soul & creative abilities that you can & will do, so feel very sorry for them indeed.

You will always have the “do gooders” who really don’t, but that’s the beauty of our wonderful demos-cracy, (democracy) Demos; People…Cracy;Rule.

Be very grateful YOU have the freedom to do good & be great. You do live in the most litigious society in the world…USA…BUT, Aussies in Qld. Australia, are 2nd on the list & NSWales (Australia) is 3rd!

I fought these battles years ago as a freedom fighter & saw “behind the seen”.

Not pretty, but; no one stops you if you do it right…so; do it right.

You will always win, there truly is no competition.

Real people you want on your lists are the goodies who just seem to “know or sense” this stuff on a deeper level…

I call it “The Awareness Industry”.

Know about it, do what you can & just get on with the good stuff!

Don’t forget…Salt is a savoury ingredient, a preservative & we are the salt of the earth.
Go & salt & add flavour to the starving masses!

So now how do we handle unsolicited success testimonials, particularly on blog comments? The risk of someone doing something like this means that we might need to include average results on every piece of on-line marketing!

lol, Kern man the US FTC and all that jazz is the LAST thing the US needs to worry about, mean I know why they did it, but c’mon. The dollar is flunking, theres pretty much a revolt in america and the FTC are just knit picking for those who are trying to make money. This effects everyone (yes I know you don’t do testimonials anymore and you ok) marketers will get around this by simply making the sales copy that much better and improve it so that it will tantalize peoples brains and make them submit ALL there money with mind ninjas from shaolin master himself.

Hey Frank, nice post. Just twittered it to the “community” Indeed, those “winner testimonials” might work but need to be correct. It’s not all that different from what google wants us to do: tell the truth really. I’m actually happy the FTC is clamping down on these things. One thing: can you write your own testimonial with results?

Well it doesnt seem as bad as it sounds. They are just trying to protect the consumer from “buying” into hype which let’s face it, is used excessively by some. It could actually be the dawn of more ethical convincers on sales pages.

People like Mr Kern have already built a great reputation so it may be the newbies that will find it harder to make a name for themsleves rather than the established guys who we already know deliver great products.

Stew said

Thanks for the heads up. Yep, I’m from the government and I’m here to protect you from yourself. Banning testimonials because you can’t guarantee a particular result…what’s next, rubber sidewalls so you don’t skin your knees if you fall?

Maybe the government should take on obesity by making fast food companies put nutritional labels on their triple decker slimeburger with extra cheese and secret sauce? I mean no one with the brain capacity above a cretin should be expected to know consuming vast quantities of fat could be a problem. Oh, yea..now they do that.

Since I don’t skeet shoot, could you recommend some kind of furniture polish to get rid of those rings now that I can’t use those stellar DVDs and CDs the guru marketing wannabes put out for coasters?

Whenever I see testimonials, I skip right over them – because I already know they’re “results aren’t typical”. Who’s to say I can’t blow those results out of the water anyway? Besides, I’m looking for my own benefits not theirs.

I’m actually shocked that someone else thinks testimonials are over rated. Everything I read tells me to use them.

Figures that some redneck from Macon figured out they’re not that important. (Especially now.)

Thanks Frank. Not only informative but as usual entertaining.

Another fellow said

I agree with Frank in that Testimonials are overrated anyway. No one believes them unless they come from a celebrity or something. I never use them in my sales pages. Instead, provide free valuable content and your prospects will be willing to get more of your stuff (for a fee, of course…)

I can imagine after your post there are 100′s of marketers rewriting their sales pages even as I type.

The guidelines apply to all forms of ‘new media advertising’. That includes video and sites like Facebook, Twitter et all. I’m all for protecting the consumer but the lack of specifics in the guidelines opens up the potential for abuse by the enforcers themselves.

I’m not a lawyer either but in it’s current form it could mean that from Dec 1st (when this takes effect), Twitter would no longer a viable direct method of promoting a product/service on the basis that you couldn’t include a full & visible disclaimer within your 140 characters.

Hi Frank
Thanks for the update. Personally I think it’s about time these kind of regulatory measures were introduced. There are far too many marketers promoting the super story of ‘newbie snags uber-dollars using secret European pipe cleaner method!” and putting disclaimers of ambiguity in micro print, while neglecting to mention that the newbie was 1 in 10,000 or that said newbie was actually the projected optimistic potential.

If you are one that is trying to find an “easy way around” the FTC rules, then you will be constantly burying your head in the sand every time something changes in this business. I know, I’ve been there. Complying will take a lot less work.

I could spend 10 minutes here stating that the government should stay out of our business and people should learn to think for themselves, but it would be futile.

Thank you for the legal translations, I know this isn’t official legal advice, but it gives others a good place to start.

Thanks for breaking this down and taking it deeper than just blogging… If people really think you just buy something for the results… well, that’s just silly. When I buy anything, I know I must work it and put effort into it. Books don’t read themselves, etc.

Thanks: Mel, John, Kelley, David. With a website that does produce typical results, namely the reduction and elimination of tinnitus, what do I do? Will these regulations apply to the Pharma industry? I’m happy to have the FTC interview my members, especially if they record the interviews and make them public. Still, I live in Vienna, Austria now, and that may provide some protection so that I can actually be honest.

For me, Integrity = Honesty, Kindness, Consistency. And those are the principles I live by.

I cannot help but feel threatened by this regulation, specifically because of my adherence to integrity.

Grandmapeg said

The Federal Trade Commission will have their hands full looking up blogs and determining that they originate in the US. Anyone know of how any country manages to control the blogs or e-mails with so many are out there?

Commentators on radio thought that celebrities would need to disclose that they were getting paid for their endorsements. Saw one Oprah tv show where she mentioned that she loved a diet fudgesicle but since they wouldn’t pay her, she wasn’t going to tell us the brand. I think her frankness is part of why she has such a large following.

Technically, if we offer someone else’s product we are not getting pre-paid. Wonder if that makes a difference? Thanks for the non-legal advice, Frank.

[...] You can read several good opinions about why this is a bad idea from TechCrunch, David Risley and Frank Kern. I happen to agree that the FTC has gone way to far. I mean if we’re gonna regulate full [...]

Hey Frank,
Thanks a lot for the heads up! I think it’s about picking a niche too. There are niches like weight loss that are riddled with scams and snake oils salesman.

In Weight loss testimonials have become common place. It seems to be the same with just about any health support niche. Same with the making money niche…

In many of my niches testimonials just aren’t done. The Customer comes to my site, their impression of me is good…I have what they have been looking for and they buy….

I’d recommend people think outside the box a little and pick something different to market, yes you may be breaking new ground, but if you do your research properly and are providing a cure for some sort of pain your prospect has, and spend a little time getting them to know you, like you and trust you…well… the heavy lifting is now done!

Frank, Always informative and educational!
If you make a claim stand by your claim period.
For too long a lot of marketers claims result they
cannot substantiate coupled with conflict of interest,
especially Review Sites.

Robin Elizabeth said

Thanks so much! I know you’re not a lawyer, but a little bit of perspective in layman’s terms is much appreciated. I especially liked the part about competition dropping off. I had a feeling that may be the case. I’m glad to know that you have found it to be true in your experience.

Tommy C said

Here’s my take on this “HOLE” thing, The gov-ment isn’t going to stop until they control every aspect of our lives! It’s a shame but you have peoples out there always trying to get there hands in your pocket ( Gov-ment accepted ) and if they can get the gov-ment to give them some of your money because they bought your product sat on the couch and watched Family Guy then said HEY! this thing I bought didn’t do everything for me so “I WAS DEFRAUDED” give me some of your money, That’s what they’ll do USE the power of gov-ment to take it!! I do well and fortunately I don’t use testimonials and never will.

Once again, you cut through the BS to the heart of the matter. The only ones who need to worry about this seriously are the ones who aren’t already on the up-and-up. Be ethical, or be elsewhere. The truth will set you free!

Nothing beats providing good value and free good content.
On the good side, I don’t think they can sensor good ol’ word of mouth advertising, and I sure hope they don’t start messing with what customers can say or post (on their own accord) on their pages about other people’s product (whether they’re promoting them or not)

Al

Billy Bob said

Hey Frank,
thanks man…
I lost 247 pounds reading this post and I feel great.
Sure the DVD helped as well – but my BIG GULP keeps slipping off of it

please consider adding my comment to your list of testimonials
you’re such a great guy – I think I could shed another 30 pounds just by using your name as a mantra during my next yoga session – think the FTC would mind if I told the truth… that you, ‘surfer dude’ are the reason for my weight loss?

Thanks very much for the insight. Another gem,unsolicited. I really appreciate your concern for your fellow marketers. I know I never would have seen this info about the FTC. I also really appreciate your ability to simplify things. keep up the great work, and thanks again.

Sorry if this has been brought up already but does the following excerpt/paragraph mean anything?

“The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; THEY ARE NOT BINDING LAW THEMSELVES. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.’

Now, I’ll admit that I’m a Canadian so I don’t pay much attention to this kind of south-o’-the-border stuff (By the way, there’s still plenty of room up here so come on up folks – unless of course you’re just going to be pulling all kinds of shenanigans! Then we don’t want you! ).

Keep in mind, sometimes Big Brother ain’t quite as “big” as he would like you to think he is.

The point is, play fair and no one gets hurt.
Thanks for what you do Frank.

If your readers have any doubt how seriously nasty the FTC can be when they put their smack down on your IM affairs, just try and find the play-back button on Perry Belcher’s SMM system video where he openly admits (kudos to Belcher) for taking his eye off the ball and not doing the right thing by his customers. I doubt you need to be in the potions and pills business either, like he was. If your testimonial sources appear to be trumped up, vague & squirrely, I suspect the FTC boys are apt to issue a cease and desist order with little recourse.

Don’t mess with FTC, in fact, it is best to have a truthful disclosure in every way, so here is my take on it.

Disclaimer: The FTC has mandated that all testimonies must be factual and truthful, therefore, as this new FTC regulation is impossible to comply with, we will make no claims at all. Everyone should know every testimony ever created was an out of work actor who would say anything to make a buck or a it was a lying employee or representative of company who makes money by lying about results. Anyone dumb enough to believe any testimony deserve to be screwed. LOL

I’m curious about one gray area: hard goods ecommerce retailers who feature customer feedback/ratings. They are virtually testimonials. And there’s a great case study here: Amazon. They basically feature customer testimonials on every page via their “Customer Reviews” section on every page, and “Most Helpful Customer Reviews.” In short, how are these fundamentally different “traditional” testimonials (Fact is they aren’t different because satisfaction of buying a book is the result. So customers are discussing results just like any other testimonial).

At the end of the day I think the honest merchants and service providers won’t have too many problems with this. But as with anything the FTC rules about, there will always be merchants/sellers who find a way to spin info to their advantage while dodging explicit law-breaking. At the end of the day enforcement of these rules is driven primarily by consumer complaints (I speak with a bit of authority since I work full time in the direct-to-consumer health supplement industry).

Good stuff, Frank, and extremely timely. If it weren’t for you, I would probably never even know about this stuff. Please keep it up, and keeping us aware. That alone is enough for the admission price.

Great post. I totally agree that testimonials are overrated. I normally don’t read them myself as I figure they’re overstated. I mean no one puts a testimonial up that says “I didn’t get any results from this product.” But I think this is a situation where the FTC is creating another law but there’s no way for them to really enforce it. Big gov. wielding their stick.

I agree some of these testimonials are far fetched and any consumer should read through that. I think the FTC is right on. It almost gives affiliate marketing seem shady which it is not, but that’s in any business right?

Ken DoBucki said

These FTC guidelines are all so nicely covered in consumer protection, but will it be administered fairly? Will the CDC, WHO, FDA or any other official group be forced to disclose all the info? When the CDC pushes HPV or H1N1 vaccination will it have to diclose that they received a million dollar grant from such and such corporation. Will they have to disclose that the manufacturing pharmaceutical company just pleaded quilty to marketing fraud? (case at hand last month Pfizer) What about the number of side effects, such as mental disorders and even death, will these numbers be shared? And the unknown long term effects, will that be known?

This is start down a dark road of regulatory treachery. When you start having to assign implied values to people’s right to express their free speech and opinion, (because that’s what testimonials are) then you start to curb people’s natural inclination to express themselves without fear of judgment.

So what’s next? What about syndicated content? When you upload a video to Youtube is it going to go into an elaborate approval process whereby Youtube has to ask you for proof of what you were feeling as opposed to someone else? Does this mean review sites are now viable for the opinions expressed in video comments?

Is the FTC going to crack down on you if I endorse this post and this blog because it made me think and “thinking about insightful blog posts” are not typical results of reading them?

This is a most disturbing attempt to undermine the sense of free speech that embodies what the Internet is really all about. The fact that I’m an internet marketer and use testimonials is trivial compared to the underlying implications of the recent regulatory infringements of basic rights.

Common sense needs to be the main ingredient in any marketing formula. While we may want to bristle at the FTC for once again “intruding” in our business, this newest of the guidelines is really just plain old common sense.

I am not your typical reader and can’t provide any statistics regarding the position of your typical reader, but my I state quite frankly for the record:
I liked your post and found it useful.

To the FTC:
This post is non-solicited. The poster has received no goods, services, nor monetary reimbursement for this post. All comments were made freely and in accordance with the 1st amendment of the US Bill of Rights. If you don’t like that one – you are cordially invited to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

[...] this sort of stuff and marketter like us, Frank Kern had this to say about the subject on his blog Mass Control: Up until these guidelines came out, you could be really safe by simply putting the standard [...]

I agree that testimonials are one of the many weapons in the arsenal of the internet marketer. One (big) change in the rules doesn’t mean that your business is over, if you have a real business to start with and are not just following the fads and schemes that arise all the time but never last.

I hope that the competition drops like you said. I’d love to see those fakers and scammers disappear. Make some space for the people that really want to provide true value to their customers.

You have taken the best pathway. Do away with all the fakery, and I have long believed that testimonials, including those with the (font 1) “results not typical” BS are unwise, and illegal, or should be.

I always believed real marketing is presenting the benefits, giving value for the charge, and putting the 100% guarantee in place. I like the “free line” as well, but do not now believe that provides discernable value. How many freakin’ eBooks do I need with only 15 or so pages telling me to buy the full deal from someone.

It is certainly time the FTC took a harder look. I think online markerters should sell just like the off-line markerters. Present the benefits, give value, and return the money (all the money) if the product is not as advertised.

Easy to live up to, and no more lies calling themselves testimonials. I like the FTC will require documented evidence to back up that even Patsy lost 950 pounds!

Next on the FTC list of things to beat down is all those earnings disclaimers written in font 4. It is time to quit telling folks in font 18 how much money they can make, then putting a small link at the very bottom of the page at font 4 that is called an “earning disclaimer,” which when clicked leads one to a page written in mumbo-jumbo at font 4 or font 6 by some lawyer beagle saying it is not the fault of the seller if the buyer cannot make a thin dime following the advice and program. That is just BS, and all know it.

Frank your blog posts are definitely not typical. The average reader experiences glazed eyes and blackouts when trying to read (and understand) anything the FTC has to say. However, I really like your blog posts – you explain things in a way that allows us average readers to comprehend the incomprehensible. And, I like you… only a wild a crazy guy like you can make reading about the FTC Guidelines an entertaining experience!

Love your disclaimer Frank. I always felt that testimonials were BS… especially when initials were used instead of actual names. Regarding testimonials, I do happen to like this service – AuthenticatedTestimonials.com. A good idea.

Bob Bart said

Sounds like another Gov employee stimulus ruling. Just think of all the new Gov employees they are going to need…. Not millions, but now big brother will be reviewing a gazillion web pages & telling us what we can and can not do… what we can and can not say. Destroying our Constitution (1st Amendment – Freedom of speech & all) (Freedom of the press) not by law, but by Gov. agency ruling.

After, it is best for the people…

So, we (Big Brother) must control everything & the internet is something we really want to control & tax.

I love the way he puts things. What is really amazing to me, is that I sent him an email, and he responded. I felt like I wrote the president, and he wrote back. ANd he talked just like friends talk, which is what makes him a great guy, his sincerity. And that’s what builds trust, which is why we wont need these stupid testimonials!

I already linked to this posting on my blog, this is seriously important info we need to know. It is especially useful to me, as I happen to sell weight loss products, among other things.

This is a great summary. I wish you would ask your lawyer how this affects us if we have links on our site that got to sites that do not comply. Linking to Msass Control would be no problem but linking to a Weight Loss For Idiots may present a problem it seems.

Thanks Frank,
This is a great summary of the FTC rules. We can always count on you for up to date info and it’s most appreciated. The things you teach in Mass Control and your other training programs will keep us from the grasp of the FTC and from losing big bucks because of dumb mistakes. Most appreciated

Frank, as a fellow former FTC whipping boy, we both know this is really just about giving the FTC broader reach, as though they need it because no one ever fights back anyway.

That being said, for the moment I believe that their current target is infomercials mainly. They will eventually use this to go after a big fish in the internet marketing world to make an example of.

But I have to say, when I put my unbiased hat on, these new rules make some sense. Franchising law has covered these areas for quite a while and those laws go much further by making you disclose a list of your previous clients. Can you imagine…

With these rules, what has to be kept in mind is that as a marketer, don’t make anything sound unbiased when there is an ulterior motive. If you run a review site, simply say, these are my honest opinions, but if you buy from me, I will earn money.

As for testimonials, I would stay away from claims, period. Keep your testimonials subjective. Things like- “this product was easy to use” is fine. But don’t stick numbers in your testimonials because you are then opening up a can of worms.

[...] New FTC Thing Is A Bigger Deal Than You Might Think by Frank Kern Tweet This!Share this on FacebookStumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on del.icio.usShare this on RedditShare this on TechnoratiDigg this!Buzz up!Add this to Google Bookmarks [...]

Once again Frank “tells it like it is.” He’s a straight shooter who happens to have done extremely well with his products, his reputation, his hair (whoops… my follicle-envy just leaked out!).

I’ve been telling people in my blogs for several months that I will be paid a small commission if people purchase a product for which I’m an Affiliate. I state it near the top – make it obvious AND they will just skim by it. It’s also in my site’s notes.

OY! BIG BROTHER stomps his foot again. Several months ago, when I heard the FTC was considering this, they were aiming it at the supplement industry — but I knew they just couldn’t resist planting their heel on everyone possible.

Wow is what I have to say to you Mr. Frank Kern!
The great thing about you is you do not send us all a bunch of fluff and constantly inundating us with sh.t emails trying to sell stuff…
So, I personally and professionally read and listen to what you have to say.
Sure wish the other “little” guys or those that send constant fluff and fill my inbox with sh.t would just go away…maybe this new FTC thing will open up the field to all of us that are doing business online to do real business for real people with real interest in working hard to “earn” money.
Great stuff Frank, and many thanks for you continuing to be you.
Most Sincerely,
Tanya Chadwick

Danny said

Wow – so glad the FTC is only American related and not the police of the whole wide web. Sorry to hear this for you Americans. Move your servers, move your address go to that village in Mexico – I sure have … from Mexico

Guy said

1. Some companies will slide. Some won’t. Selective enforcement is a big part of this plan.

2. What is considered a testimonial. If I see a shampoo commercial with a celebrity saying how shiny, healthy, luxurious, radiant (you get the picture) this shampoo has made her hair is that considered a testimonial and if so will the producers of these products have to comply with the FTC? My bet is they won’t.

3. If I’m selling a DVD that teaches rodeo clowns proper barrel jumping and have a testimonial that says this DVD has increased my skill level does that rise to the level where it would need a results not typical disclaimer?

And for all those interested…get some good advice on how to become a Coast Guard Pilot.

I’ve read tons of reviews and posts about the FTC shenanigans and yours was by far the most entertaining and enlightening. My questions is if the new law is retroactive. Will 4 year bloggers who post daily be responsible for going back and disclosing relationships and compensations for 1460 days of article writing? I guess it’s time to start writing a disclosure policy.

What the hell is the “FTC”? Oh yes…another American Government agency….one that is apparently trying to dictate what goes on on the internet…what it (the FTC), seems to have forgotten however (like most “AMERICAN” agencies)..is that the internet is not owned by America, and nor governed by America.

The Rules they are trying to impose aren’t the issue for me..IN FACT I think that they are not far off the mark, NEEDED EVEN…what galls me is the fact that they EVEN THINK that they can make the rules…..

So, as a Patriotic Canadian, one who loves America and Americans, but not their government Agencies,(Many of my relatives are American including a Judge in DC), I hereby say to the FTC: “BLOW ME!”

Great info, Frank. Everyone should know that we all brought it on ourselves, and after all, don’t you think that the average Joe is a bit tired of all the hype? Don’t you think people are beginning to see that all the testimonials are escalating the bs with unimaginable claims? It used to be that “10,000 a month” was a great claim. Now it has to be “40,000 per month and more” to beat all the others. Where does it end? With very careful scrutiny of testimonials, and isn’t that what a legitimate business should do? No one likes government regulation, but it’s been brought on by our own industry.

The idea that those who review things should say what their connection is is OK. The “typical testimonials” could be a big problem!
All testimonials are anecdotal! The FDA says anectodal evidence is no good, the FTC says it is. And it’s true because they said so. The problem is that there ARE NO typical results! How much work did you put into it? What were you selling? During good times or bad? To whom? Different people can be selling the same thing, and achieve totally different results. Which is typical? Is any of them?
The problem is that words like “typical” “fair” or “misleading” have no definition, and what counts is what the gov’t. agencies says. If different agencies have different definitions, they’re both true. And if the FDA says medicines are guilty until proven innocent. that’s true too. Let’s hope the FTC is on our side. Or we all may be out of business! (Though getting rid of pages on testimonials would make the ads easier to read.)

You hit the nail on the head by saying that up front value is the key. People who feel well treated and well satisfied with free content are often going to buy even without testimonials.

This reminds me of the changes employers made when companies started being sued over giving negative feedback on potential hires. Many companies stopped giving recommendations beyond name, rank and date of hire. Personnel agents simply rationalized that recommendations were seldom reliable anyway and went on with determining who to hire in other ways.

People will buy what they want anyway. Yes, some will see a big drop off in sales, but I think you’re right that this will be more because of insufficient value than because of lack of easily faked results data.

Thanks for the useful information and value, as always, Frank! I agree with you that testimonials are overrated, in most cases. Like a lot of things, they’ve been greatly overused by marketers to the point that many consumers and potential customers either ignore them or greatly discount them. I absolutely NEVER click on those links that say something like “Click here for 231 testimonials of ‘s products” When you see that, you know these testimonials were obtained at some pitch-fest event where someone just saw a rousing talk on some subject. Anyway, the point is to focus on the value you’re providing people and as you say, the testimonials won’t be necessary.

Dam you frank, with the New FTC weight loss program I had sweat my ass off, and Using the New FTC program I Lost 200 lbs.. lol.. seriously, Its getting nuts and we should really think about a Boston Tea Party… lol

This is a spectacular post. Thanks for taking the time to break this down for everyone. I’m still curious if we have to disclose income potential when we use affiliate links, but that’s another matter. This post cleared up a lot of things and we all appreciate it.

HAahahaaaa!!
Frank you make me laugh everytime – AND – you supply great info! ***** If you enjoyed reading this post, your results are not typical. *** hahahaa!! Sorry that was funny to me! lol!!

Thanks for the heads up! I am TOTALLY NEW to internet marketing though have been listening and reading and working on my own ideas for the last few months… I will be launching my passions soon… though definately don’t want to get a stick up the a** because I wasn’t aware of some legal detail, especially when I believe that all I am doing is helping people! lol! That would SUCK ROTTEN EGGS!

Here is to my success!! ***** If you enjoyed reading this post, AND SMILED your results are not typical. *** hahhaa!!
S

Mike said

Testimonials make the difference. Guys like Frank Kern or John Reese or Mike Filsaime don’t need them because they’ve built a reputation over many years and vouch for each other.

This isn’t just about blogs, review sites or affiliate marketing or get rich quick schemes.

What about the sales training company, or the IT company or any other legit company – how can they compete when their testimonials are suddenly null and void.

If you’ve done any sales … prospects want to know specifically how you’ve helped other people … they want track records so now how can you provide this?

Let’s say you sell a carpet cleaning product or a carpet cleaning service … to beat the competitors you’re better off using a portfolio of good testimonials that you earned over the years than doing a price war against cheaper competitors. How do you demonstrate your service works and how do you stand out from the pack who price cuts and delivers shoddy work?

Come on … if you have a sales training company … I want to hear “Our sales increased by X%. And it took just X weeks to see it happen.” I need specifics to make a good buying decision – everyone does.

So what’ll happen is the consumer gets no useful information out of the testimonial.

And second, it’ll be a game of who can get the most testimonials that mean nothing. Because if you can’t give specifics, then having 231 testimonials that mean nothing vs your competitor who has 102 will be what matters as the prospect compares and contrasts.

The third thing that’ll happen is price wars. You’ll be operating on thin profit margins and your earning capacity will plumment.

This is well done- and for someone who is a lawyer, but does not practice in this area,I decoded the Guidelines over on my blog http://www.whitneyhoffman.com. In the end, if you are a grown up and disclose and are honest about the typical results people can expect, you’ll be fine. If you engage in hyperbole, you may have a problem.

It’s something everyone should comply with but I’m actually more interested in what happens after the first few test cases. Enforcement on the net will be next to impossible. Worse yet it onpy applies to this country so those non USA people can still say whatever they want.

Lol, can’t you just see the prisons full of people for violating this new ruling. Some way I just don’t think that’s gonna happen.

Hmmmm…..so I wonder for those of us brave enough to have a blog about our MLM site what we will have to do. Link to earning disclaimers? “Results not typical, most people lose their butt because they are too lazy to do the work.” Heck, even just plain-jane Internet marketing sales pages may need a similar disclaimer.

What about forum sites like Warrior and the WSO forum? “Results not typical. Most users spend the $17, read the material, never apply any of it, and wonder why they are buying another $17 WSO and not making any money”

I think the possibilities are endless, but hate the fact that the FTC feels it is necessary to take these actions.

Hi Thanks Frank, I really appreciate your blog on this.I don’t know what the FTC is exactly ‘cos I live in the UK, but I still get what your saying here.
I laughed my head off at the ‘disclaimer’ at the bottom.Typical Kern humour.Brilliant.
thanks again.
alan

According to the results at bottom I may or may not learn something from this article.Being the typical person that I am I need to know if i did or will learn something here.Perhaps I should do the consulting thing if there is any sane people out there.Maybe a report can be filed to access if perhaps me the typical,average,results oriented has or will be learning anything through reading this post,Thanks for cooperation in this matter.
MAKE NUTRITION A NATURAL STATE!!

Rotpada said

1) The FTC should crack down on the lies and deceit coming out of Washington, including themselves.

2) Would this affect RipOffReport? Their contributors provide testimonials with “specific results.” ROR makes money by extorting it from the businesses referred to on their site. Should they have to put a disclaimer that says, “Results not typical. The average user is very satisfied with their purchase. This is one customer in 400,000. In fact, if you read this complaint, this person was never actually a customer of XYZ Company. They just like to complain.”

I agree! the best thing to do is just save the ulcers and comply. I had a website that was doing well until Google killed it with a slap and I didn’t even know it was at risk until after the fact.

The real hidden story here is the government has been wanting to find a way to tax internet commerce for a long time and I see this as just a foot in the door to get people more conditioned to government control and taxes.

I think instead of doing away of Fake Testimonials vs. real testimonials, thus weeding out the competition. It only builds a opportune foundation for those who do it in the first place because it really hurts sales in the long run. It means you have to be more targeted, cautious before promoting a product as a owner or visitor or maybe even loose your positioning in the search engines. To make anything clearly disclosed. I think every business on or offline should have a disclaimer, hope that places like, clickbank, paydotcom, paypal, etc… have all vendors cooperate in FTC ruling forcing vendors to teach affiliate marketing and give away an arsenal of information about were and how to promote. Which is a good and bad thing. If I’m not mistaken the FTC are the say so of how you present yourself using video as well. It will soon be so deep that no one can make enough money. I am almost upset of how someone who seriously probably has no marketing experience what so ever choose to dictate what can and cant be done. Its sort of like the person who burnt his or her self with the coffee and suing or the person who sued for fast food fries making their child fat. Its supply and demand, so just as it is a statued of limitations on collect of debt and faking your death. It should be a 7 year law against changing the law to fit needs of importance. WHO CARES ABOUT THE MARKETER.

I knew this was coming. This is gonna hit those markets and vendors who use testimonials quite hard. I’ve never used testimonials myself, but I’ll definitely heed the FTC’S latest announcement. Cheers for the heads up Frank.
Dal

Dude!!!! You are a complete and utter hoot!!! Gotta say, not too often I read blog posts in full cuz most peeps’ writing style is well, um, blah!! But you had me laughing til the tears rolled right to the end.

LOVE what you say about just give away a TON of stuff that makes peeps happy then give ‘em even MORE stuff when they do buy. Amen!!

Thanks for bringing much needed levity to this subject. Can’t wait to finally meet ya in Atlanta next month at InfoSUMMIT. Will be an honor to share the stage with ya. And get a pic too plz?! heheee

So, On my website I am using and reviewing “Chef Knives”. If I say knives cut, do you think they will dispute it? If someone buys a knife through one of my affiliate offers and writes in to recommend his/her experience… “yup this knife cuts” and I publish it, the disclaimer possibilities are endless. Caution the product you are about to purchase can cause serious harm to various body parts and usage may result in death, but hey if you are dumb enough to stab yourself you deserve it. LOL
Michael Brown

An appropriate heads up and as usual on the button. Thanks but do always remember and never forget “This in no way reflex an average comment from your followers” Have a great one I’ll see you on your next “breaking news headlines”

Hi Frank, thanks.
This is certainly sound (non-legal) advice, and it is doable to avoid testimonials claiming specific results and disclosing affiliate relationships when promoting a product.
But there is one aspect which makes me worry: An owner of an affiliate network has limited controll over the behaviour of each and every single affiliate. Is the vendor of an affiliate product seen as responsible for all actions of all of his affiliates, even if they break theterms of the affiliate agreement?
A post of Michel Forin made me worry.http://www.michelfortin.com/affiliate-marketing/

Would someone please show me where in the US Constitution that the Congress or the FTC gets the power to tell me how I should promote my business?

It is the job of the states and local govenments to regulate businesses, not the Federal Government.

Did Benjamin Franklin have this in mind when he advertised his Franlklin stoves in “Poor Richard’s Almanac” – a newspaper HE owned. Did he put a disclaimer in there? Hell no!

Folks, this is a draconian regulation that should scare the pants off of you!

The FTC has no right – none – to tell you that you have to track every one of your customers’ experiences before you are allowed to relate what some of them have to say about your products.

This new set of rules is merely a response to a lawsuit the FTC LOST!! The FTC had made life miserable for many companies before one of them stood up to the creeps. So the FTC’s response to the loss is to make a NEW regulation which is just as illegal as the old one.

What is Clayton Makepeace, the king of copywriting, going to do? His highly successful ads are full of testimonials.

What about telling your compelling story in your ad? Will you be allowed to do that?? Vin Montello has shown that story telling is the most effective style of copywriting.

This is no joke! The FTC needs to be sent packing! Don’t be sheep. Fight back. Call your Congressman!

The FTC is only looking out for the taxpayer’s money. All these banks that went under and everyone else that asked for bailouts, they all had vague testimonials. Look what happened. Now that the government has a vested interest it wants to make it harder for anyone to get swindled. It don’t matter though, when there is a will therere is a way marketing will always find a way to get you to buy.

Frank,
You do make me laugh!
Thanks for the heads up – meanwhile, I’m wondering if this could really be happening – as a Brit, I gotta say this sounds so un-American. It’s more the kind of lame ass thing the UK government would try to rush its people with. How do they expect to implement it? Are they gonna demand we take all the testimonials down from 20 years of past web sites? No way could they do that.
Anyway, thanks – imho you delivered a classic marketing quotation when you said, “Selling stuff is easy. All you gotta do is give away stuff that makes people happy …and then sell stuff that makes ‘em even happier.” Genius!
All the best
Sam

Do you have a list of normal and sane people you can refer me to, I don’t know any. Testimonials generally sound like set-ups to me, honesty has a certain ring to it, I hear it deep underneath your jokes, how refreshing. mickey

Loved your personal disclaimer and liked the advice. I’m from Finland and do use my blog to generate affiliate income and there has already been talk in Finland about taking the FTC-example to make new regulations. I liked your positive view on this, now I’m looking forward to a brighter future aswell.

Frank, this is why we pay you the big bucks, to lay it all out and give it to us straight! I wonder what is going to happen to all those gurus who TAUGHT us to use ANY testimonial, real or not, the wilder the better, over-the-top-and-who-cares, type of mentality. The reason the FTC got involved was because of all the phony claims and lack of integrity in the industry. It is severely lacking in the Internet Marketing world.
Thanks again.

Ron said

What is the demise of the “feedback system” that Amazon and Ebay use.
What is the differentiation

Does the credibility lie in the fact that it is a 2-way feedback?
Does the credibility lie in the fact that they are Billion Dollar Companies?
Does the credibility lie in the fact that “proof of purchase” has occured?

I’m not necessarily looking for a legal answer, but I am looking for an educated guess/answer…

I’ve only ever sold ONE thing online (Except for eBay) in ten years now.
I don’t use testimonials, and I only read Franks E-mails & watch his Videos because he’s Bloody Brilliant!! ( OH … And I wish I had Half his brain

Before the internet, the only way to get the word out about a new product was to spend tens of thousands or millions of dollars on advertising. This gave the big companies a strong foothold.

Now, small start up companies can give some of their products to bloggers, get some free advertising (cost of the product) and edge their way right up next to the big companies. After the new rules go into effect, bloggers have to disclose if they received the products for free?

What I see in the future, is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wanting to charge some kind of tax on the items given to the bloggers. Its going to be right there on the bloggers page that they received the item, so the IRS can go over their site and make sure they listed everything in their tax filing. The IRS will probably call it some kind of gift tax, or advertising tax.

We have from now – December 1 to post as many reviews as we can, and not have to disclose anything.

[...] with all marketing, this is best used in a transparent mode (read the new FTC stuff by Frank Kern, who was sued for millions by them a few years back), and used in moderation. Just because a few people bought something from an affiliate link, [...]

Thanks Frank – I hadn’t even gotten far enough into the new reg to worry about the testimonial part! I always appreciate your insight but I’m stilla little worried about the blog thing – even though they stated “we only plan to go after the manufacturer” – what about those bloggers with their own info products? I’m thinking if someone were to recommend my product on their blog, and they got it for free to review it for me – well then, wouldn’t the FTC go after me if that blogger didn’t disclose the way the FTC thought they should? They just make me nervous!

That said, I’ve tried to be a little creative in my “disclaimer” on products I’ve recommended on my Top Toys for Boys lens this year. Although I’m sure I’ll need to get my own FTC attorney to go over it just to be sure! What do you think? (It’s at the bottom – hope it’s still obvious enough for the FTC!) http://www.squidoo.com/top-toys-for-boys-2009

Hey Frank, absolutely brilliant statement. I agree 100%. If you GIVE people enough reasons and stuff in advance, you don’t even NEED Testimonials. This “masscontrol” even works in good old Germany By the way, the laws over here are even “WORSE” for this cases then the one, you explained.
Have a fab day!
Cheers,
Volker Rupprecht

I agree a 100%. Before I became involved with Internet Marketing spent my time selling capital equipment to Banks, Business, and later to Lawyers. Most of the time, they would ask about what kind of success other company were having with the systems and ask for testimonials and clearly I would give them the names of people who were using it.

Also, would give them the title of the persons who made the decision and their phone number. If I remember correctly in the history of the world no two people have the same characteristics. So your results will vary. If you are in Marketing and you don’t know this, my guess is that you are in the wrong business.

Let me be clear, I have purchase plenty of information from Marketers and tried it and it didn’t work for me, but do you think I complained about the testimonials. Maybe it worked for someone else or maybe it didn’t. Also, I have many that I purchased stuff from and it did work. So guess what, that is why I buy from them again and again.

As usual Frank has a way of putting things so you can understand. I for one think the government has gone way to far and the FCC and FTC are way over bounds. Using the 1st amendment (as long as we can) I think they ought to clean them both out and start over. I dont use testimonials often because I can not put much faith in most of them. It is a shame that government can not leave a few enjoyable things (like the internet) alone. I just hope that all those in our ranks take heed and keep themselves safe. And for those who are outside our ranks, that are reading, do your thing…….Just Don’t Tread On Me! We Will Survive you.

This blog post really changed my thinking on testimonials. I now use 30% less testimonials in my online advertising. Of course, the average blog reader will read the first paragraph of an important post like this and ignore the best parts at the end of the message.

This may lead them to run afoul of new government regulations and end up with substantial losses due to fines and increased medical bils resulting from vigorous FTC wrist slapping.

Lawyers have lived with this sort of regulation for many years. Most states do not allow us to use any testimonials because of the possibility of a future client being mislead.

Dear Frank, I had been reading about this and thank you for the clarification. We as Chiropractors have been dealing with this for a long time and only us research and case studies that show results that were tested by computers not human judgement. Welcome to Democracy according to !!!!!!!

What about reviewers in magazines for example, will we
All have to read the same old disclosures every time someone in the media
Writes about a beauty product, or a live rock concert, or something or anything???

What if one recommends a friend to go to a movie, eating house, shop or anything…..
And they do not like it…….
Does this mean that they will get a refund? And who will pay for the refund…..?
Is it the referrer or the shop or both???
Ah well, my Father always said that the world would go crazy

before the End Of The World.

If you enjoyed reading this comment, your results are typical.

The average reader eventually simply reads the next one.

Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio get something close to a free pass on disclosures, or do they????? Hhmmmmm.

A N I T P S B C L O P A
Absolutely nothing in this post should be considered legal or professional advice.

John said

I agree that steps are needed to “control” the validity of many testimonials and I’m sure not gonna seek ways around the ruling. However, ( and I’m sorry if this offends anyone in anyway, but I gotta speak my mind here now ) I feel this is just another “step” that the FTC and our wonderful government ( ‘By the people & for the people” ?) is taking to see to it that ( just like ) “Big Pharm” and other pocket-filling corporations, keep on getting their billions so that they can keep stuffing our great political leader’s and government agencie’s pockets. We ALL know how it works. It may not ALWAYS be in “U.S.currency” but they are getting their “kickbacks” in some way.

Just like the FDA can shut down any biotech company or any company they want, because of one word in the “ad” or blog that might cause health-conscience consumers to ease away from drug use ( and get rid of all those nasty side effects )and use some “natural cure” (that’s the “misleading” word according to the FDA )instead of spending money on drugs that only mask the symptoms and never get to the core of the problem, which most of the time, if not all, can be traced to stress in one’s life.
Anyway, I’m sorry to be ranting and getting off the subject at hand. I just don’t trust any part of our government controlling what we do, ESPECIALLY when they probably don’t even know the whole story.Or maybe they do but just wanna keep US from knowing the truth. I sure as hell wouldn’t put it past them.

Look at what’s going on in Massachussettes with the people being forced to get swine flu vaccinations ( if the law is passed ).
This country is headed for trouble and if you ask me, Mel Gibson’s movie, “Mad Max” just may come true in the foreseeable future.

I quote Bill Mahr, from a few years ago; “America is not a free country. We are Fee-er than any other country, but we are NOT FREE.”

I’m finished ( I’m getting stressed now -:)

Thank you Frank & Gary.

Sincerely,
John

Jeff in Oregon said

Over 450 comments to a single post in 2 days is NOT typical.
This product does work – but it could take you a substantial amount of time, effort, and cultivation of super ninja abilities to achieve this type of
result. Please refer to the other product “Mass Control” list above…WAY above, for further details.

Thanks Frank.
You’ve once again managed to explain a serious matter in an entertaining way.
I’m curious how these new regulations will affect marketers outside the U.S.
Does the FTC have any jurisdiction over people living in other coutries?

Thanks Frank! Another well put together take on the FTC changes. It is amazing how just a couple of words changes the way people think so then the big regulations person has to change things up – I guess they have to stay in business some how, right?

I have a whole web page of testimonials, but thankfully it is all about how they love my product. So I guess I am safe for now?

[...] Website: Mass Control » New FTC Thing Is A Bigger Deal Than You Might Think. Category: Uncategorized You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]

Can anyone in the “I am (am not) a lawyer (but I know lots about it)” category comment on the true level of compliance, if any, required of material published by non-US citizens where:

1) Hosting is outside the US (but selling to people inside the US as well)?

2) Hosting is inside US borders?

Especially in cases where the products being promoted are also potentially supplied within the US (from places like ClickBank, or as direct affiliate referrals).

I’m not a big fan of endless testimonials, but I certainly am curious about how such laws can be applied to the global cloud of the Internet, and whether I could (not that I would) sit here in Australia and “cheat” the system Frank (as the example) is forced to adhere to?

Fascinating topic, especially in the sense that it targets one medium where others (think any non-internet adverts) seem to get away with an awful lot more.

[...] “Here’s my advice COMPLY, BY GOD!” and I agree. Frank’s blog post “New FTC Thing Is A Bigger Deal Than You Might Think” is a must read. He gives several good examples and provides an interpretation of the FTC [...]

I think it’s great that the FTC is tightening things up a bit. As far as government regulation screwing up the “free market” goes… that’s absurd. There is no such thing as a “free market”. Governments create and regulate markets. There is no free market anywhere! … except for maybe what Bush did to the US banking industry by deregulating it almost completely. That turned out well didn’t it!? Ha ha, “free market”… that’s a good one!

More fuel for the socialists. People are so programmed to look outside themselves for answers that demand that the FTC make MORE laws to protect them since they are unable to make sensible decisions for themselves (thank you media and the public schools!). Makes me want to puke. And comply, of course.

I really like the “creativity” of the “socialist” comment. Look… knuckle dragging isn’t a sport and it’s not very attractive. So stop it! You’ll only end up poking yourself in the eye, or something of the sort… poor fellow…

Crap, – more regulation – just what we all need more of right? Well, got into the middle of your Screw Google Campaign, and then got this email. Just when I was setting up Tracking202 (BTW – did they charge you a monthly fee for Stats202?) … and now I’m wondering if by advertising and direct linking to the site if I’m held under the same blanket umbrella just by being an affiliate.

Any ideas on how this will affect affiliates that are gonna follow the Screw Google Campaign?

I will look to the TV ads and other talk shows to see if they compile first. I just think the FTC is just a bit hasty. If the commercial ads compile, that would be a good sign for all of us to start too… just my 2 cents

Carlos said

All you internet marketers and really any business owners need to go to my new blog. I’m an expert on this stuff and I will be adding some great posts on liability protection and legally saving a ton of tax money which is also very cool. The blog site is:http://llcsandcorpsforimers.wordpress.com. I will also address individual situations upon request/comments. Thanks, Franksternvegas.

To anyone who thinks in kind or believes they are immune due to their location as in Allison Reynolds’ blog statement reguarding this matter “This blog of mine probably doesn’t come under FTC jurisdiction seeing as I am a British Subject living in Australia writing on a blog that is hosted in Europe.” May I suggest you think twice on that, you may well be doing a huge crap in your own nest.

I WISH TO POINT OUT THAT NO HARM IS INTENDED, NOR ANYONE SPECIFIC PERSON BE SINGLED OUT, IT IS JUST THAT YOU HAPPEN TO BE THE FIRST CAB OFF THE RANK ON THIS ONE.

It is after all cyberspace and didn’t the Americans create that? Just picture the shock and awe tactics that have been on the news across the world these past few years.

Great post.
I’m currently still building (populating my site with products) and as far as what I’ve read so far, this new ruling shouldn’t affect me as my site will be totally driven by affiliate links. No Hype, no sales pitch, no testimonials, etc.. Just a graphic image and a 4-5 line leader taken from the product’s affiliate tools or from the sales page. Sorta like using a search engine without the Search, Keywords Search, etc., and all the other SE BS. Very simple and straigh forward Menu/Navigation Bar driven. Even have some of your products there.

Anything in this new law or anything else that I need to be aware of that I may not be aware of?

I hope to launch at the end of the month and would like to have everything in order at that time.

For some reason my previous post didn’t show up. Or if it did, I can’t find it.

Anyway. People, when dealing with ANY branch of the federal government—I know from having
dealt with BCIS, Homeland Security, the INS, the Justice Department, and a gaggle of others:
comply. Whether you like it or not the FTC CAN do this, they WILL do it, and they ARE doing it.

Frank, this was a reasonable post but many of the people commenting have missed the point. The FTC removal of the safe harbor effects testimonials and all representations. Not using testimonials doesn’t mean that you will be in compliance.

Most of the marketers selling business opportunities, the chance to make money from a program, are currently offside with the FTC and States Biz Op Laws anyways.

This change in the FTC guidelines about representations, disclaimers and the safe harbor is just going to make it easier for the FTC to pick off juicy targets.

Always with the right information Frank.It’s good to see that when something change or is not working anymore in our industry guys like you are there,see the problem,analyse it and then share the results with the world.
This little shifts make the difference between mentors like you and average people like me.:D
Thanks for the sharing Frank!

Hey Frank, whenever I read your blog, I’m certainly not looking for advice from a sane or normal person and, once again, you have delivered magnificently. Thank you for your easy to understand interpretation of the new FTC guidelines which, I’m sure, is quite an improvement to the legal gibberish you were subjected to. By the way, your readers are far from average…

Paul Baxter said

Hello Frank – I don’t ever use testimonials but, are testimonials the only ‘point’ in the new rulings?
Seems to me one needs a lawyer/attorney to do any business on the web – I have affiliate links on my blog so I guess I’ll just shut that down and any other biz type site or blog and screw the ftc and all affiliate programs because I don’t even get questions answered from guys like Wilke, his support email, honesteonline, salehoo and several others – never made one dime anyway from/through those and others.
Screw the ftc and Google who, I believe, have screwed thousands of legit people.
The dishonest jerks too have and always will affect the legits.
My ‘should have’ moment? Never to have gotten involved and saved the many thousands of dollars I spent.
I am broker than broke so it’s adios I guess unless you have something to soothe me by something with which I can make some money.
Cordially,
Paul

Veron said

I read your post the next second I got your email. But, frankly, I wasn’t really understand it for the first time.

But, my frustration about this FTC thing grew in these few days as it is buzzing everywhere around the Internet and is affecting me directly because I’m using blog to do this kind of product reviews in order to earn commissions.

Further, I just finished reading John Reese’s IM 2010 report advised us as an Internet marketer do read about the FTC thing even if we’re not in the US. Then, no choice but headed to the FTC website and read about it. Still, not really get it.

Then, I just decided to come back to your post and read again, and finally cleared off my worries.

I agree most with what you said about testimonials, and add
that I think anybody who hasn’t figured out they can be manufactured,
as well as bias, needs to get more education. When have you seen a
bad testimonial for a product? I’ve always seen them as a part of the ad!
Of course I was raised to believe none of what I hear, and half of what I see. The thing that kills me about the LAW these days is that they can’t do what they want others to do – Be Clear! They always leave it open to interpretation, always open ended, and so forth!

It’s a shame in this day and age, that this country runs around the world claiming to fight for the freedom of others, and creating less of it for thier
own.

Hi Frank,
That was very informative, and I’m grateful to you for taking the time out to help us all understand. It’s an important issue! I also love your upbeat look at how changes like this pave the way for more opportunity for those of us who run our businesses with honesty and integrity, and who are in it for the long haul.

Excellent info Frank as always. You have a way of explaining things that makes it easy to understand for just about anyone with a brain. I totally agree, don’t try to get around it, just bend a little and make it work for you. There are always things such as this that comes up from time to time in the marketing world and it has never stopped us before, just made us rethink a few old strategies and create some new ones that comply with the rules. This is one of those rare opportunities disguised as a pain in the butt, less competition means easier promotions and more sales. Thanks!

From my experience, it often doesn’t matter is you are doing the right thing or not, at least not initially. When the DOJ or FTC doesn’t understand your business, they get really strange with their actions. Cost us a lot of legal fees until finally it went up high enough or they did enough investigation to determine that we were really the good guys, but it still cost us.

As always, play it safe and be open and honest. We only have our reputation built on years of following the rules. Keep up the great work Frank! Doug Reitmeyer

Hey Frank, thanks for the info’. Your sense of humor makes it so much easier to understand. But I have a couple of questions could anyone answer this?

What if you’re not a US citizen & don’t reside in the US? After all our sites are visible from anywhere on the globe.

And what if you have literally thousands of websites, well maybe hundreds. This could be a reality for people that have been marketing for years & are selling many products & also as affiliates. I’m sure there woud be hundreds of sites that some have that they haven’t visited themselves for ages. So how long does the FCC allow for someone to update all that contact. Many sites have tens of testimonials on them. It could take a lifetime to update if they fall short in an overall way.

Anyway, I’m interested particularly if you’re a non US nor citizen. I will however taake the info’ seriously & comply.

tommy said

E Gads I had to go see my doctor after reading this post.Of course my test results were not typical, not normal, and not representative of my vegetative. state. However in my limited thinking capacity I do believe you are correct. Test-o-whatevers are way over rated. I never read them. I only care about the product. Aw shucks i just like to give em my money!
Thank You,
Tommy

Bob Stone said

I think you’re missing a big point, since you didn’t mention it, Frank. The formula of almost every “make money” product (and weight loss product, and dating help product) is the “You can make thousands of dollars doing xyz” based around a story of how the author went from rags to riches in almost no time, and makes thousands of dollars a month (with the clickbank screen shots and paypall account snapshots as proof). What is that but a gigantic personal testimonial? To use you as an example, you don’t use any direct testimonials in your sales page, but you do “testify” that you made millions during various promotions using the principles of Mass Control.

Um…fine. But, is that typical? Why is it any different for a person to pen a 30 page story about results achieved from the use of xyz product (or the info that makes up the product) versus putting up 5 or 6 lines of a second party story about results achieved using the product?

I don’t think it is any different. And, I don’t think the FTC thinks it’s different, either. The classic “I started with nothing and within a year was making 10K a month” that is the standard formula of the “how to make money” crowd since Karbo first came up with it over 35 years ago” is now dead.

That’s what I got out of the FTC ruling. Maybe I’m wrong, but you might want to ask your lawyer about this take.

Whew !! – like Frank says, sure looks like many IM’ers are going to chicken out and it could very well be an opportunity in disguise – I wonder if this is going to affect other mediums like Television, if so what is going to happen to advertising as a whole ( do they put a disclaimer before each and every ad ?)

I have been reading email upon email and attended a 1-1/ hour webinar about the FTC changes and I have to say is you boiled this down to a science man! One can read your 5-minute blog on this subject and know exactly what to do! Thanks for clarifying and coming up with suggested solutions – good ones.

Anna Maccani said

Thanks again for delivery awesome value and helping us out.
Much appreciate, please let me know what I can do for you to help your business.
It was great to meet you at Tony Robbin’s Wealth Mastery – a dream come true!
And yes I agree, follow the rules!! It’s not worth it.

Rob said

Good advice.
Disclaimer: In no way must this be construed, interpreted or implied that I am endorsing you or your business in any way shape or form. I have not been paid, induced, threatened or persuaded to write this and if I should lose a few pounds now or in the foreseeable future that will be in no way attributable to the content of this site, its owner or his staff! Cross my heart!

The FTC has enormous power over small business simply because they can “outspend” most individuals in court. They have the resources to crush
anyone who does not have the resources to mount a defense
Frank is right. Don’t mess with these guys….Just Comply!

[...] You can learn a lot from what Frank Kern said about his experience here, his take on recent changes here, as well as public records of his experience and final judgement here. Jim Edwards, long-time [...]

Like Howard Stern says “Screw the FCC” – and that goes for the FTC too.

If I didn’t get burned once in awhile, I wouldn’t have learned a damn thing!

We have a tendency to be skeptical, and yet, many of us avoid the eating right, riding a bike without a helmet, drinking too much, and we don’t heed whatever warnings that our parents may have given us, which is why I’m divorced now. My mom tried to tell him that I was no good for him, he finally caught on.

Point is, the FTC is out there trying to prevent John and Jane Dumbass from being taken advantage of. And no matter what the FTC does, we’re not going to learn by the mistakes that they’ve prevented us from having, and we’re going to go out and find the folks who don’t care what the FTC says and will screw us anyway.

Laws are only for those who are going to follow them.

I’m not saying that I’m looking to take advantage of anyone; however, there WILL be someone out there willing to bend to teach us a lesson.

I was told something a long time ago about matters such as this, and the reasoning behind not saying things like, the average person used it as a coaster
and that is, what, and or why for.

I was informed not to assume what actually happened or will, since with out actually being present to the events, you really are not presenting facts. This in turn just might get you sued for deplemation of character.

Weight loss programs can not calculate all the variables involved with
the average person and how each persons body responds to daily events, such as stress, proper eating cycles, proper hydration, the amount of calories taken in verses the amount burned, and or how many times you chew your food.

Yup… alot of marketing forget about these guidelines. I will always be keeping up with the latest FTC regulations when it comes to my pre-sale. I do this full time now and would hate to see my site shutdown over a stupid mistake on my part.

I know i’m a little late out of the blocks. This can be a good thing for the evidence based practitioner and marketer. Let’s hope you’re right and competition wanes a little for the weight loss & get fit market.

Want to say your article is outstanding. The clarity in your post is simply striking and i can assume you are an expert on this field. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work

Want to say your article is outstanding. The clarity in your post is simply striking and i can assume you are an expert on this field. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work

love this comment Frank: “Lots of people will either screw themselves by not complying with the new regulations, or they’ll try to comply but fail to sell anything because they’re not delivering enough up-front value. Or they’ll just say, “aww …to hell with it” and quit”…